The Bat and the Eagle
by Raphael Havok Blake
Summary: 5 years after the events of the game, Batman visits S.T.A.R. Labs to speak to a certain prisoner. Batman's personality incorporates a little of Bruce Wayne. Also assumes the events of JLA: Obsidian Age and JLA Vol. 1 #90 happened. Rated T for adult situations. Naturally, I don't own any of these characters, storylines, or locations. My first fanfic so be honest!
1. Visitation

**The Bat and the Eagle**

The doors to S.T.A.R. Labs' containment facility open as a lone figure walks in, cape flowing behind him. His formerly gray armor now shined a bright silver, a large black bat emblazoned across it. Though he no longer wore his iconic cowl, everyone knew his name: Batman. The world's new greatest hero had stepped into the light, merging the public life of Bruce Wayne with the nightly crusade of his alter ego, removing his mask for a public that now idolized him for his role in bringing down High Counselor Superman. He'd even helped S.T.A.R. Labs design the very containment cells that he walked by now. But today wasn't a consultation visit.

The cells, each custom-designed, held someone that he once called a teammate, some he even called friend. As silver-black boots clacked down the hall, disgraced former heroes couldn't help but look up. Shiera Hall – Hawkgirl – grimaced and laid back on her bed, no doubt lamenting over her long-dead husband Carter, Hawkman. Barry Allen – The Flash – tapped on the shatterproof glass and smiled. Gravity emitters slowed him down to "normal" speeds, a countermeasure the Dark Knight himself had developed. Batman turned his head and nodded at the Scarlet Speedster, who had turned on Superman's regime and aided Batman's insurgents in the final days of the conflict. With only a year left on his sentence, Barry would be free to apply to the reformed Justice League soon, and he would be welcomed. Rachel Roth – the former Titan known as Raven, let off a near-inaudible growl, eyes flashing a brighter yellow at the presence of her jailor. She tried to curse at him telepathically, to reach into his mind and give him a piece of hers…but instead got a head full of feedback, courtesy of psychic inhibitors implanted in her brain, created by S.T.A.R. Labs with the assistance of Deathstroke's files on the Titans. Batman didn't even glance in her direction.

"FATHER!" The shout came from a cell to Batman's left. He stopped and faced the long-haired young man inside, pounding the triple-thick glass. He face was a twisted mess of anger and tears. Damian Wayne – son of Batman, the former Robin, the false Nightwing. "Please father," the man's voice broke, tears running freely now as he spoke, "I...I'm sorry. Please, just let me out." His father glared at him for a moment, his youngest boy, the reason why his oldest son Dick was dead. He turned heel and kept walking. Damian's sorrow vanished, replaced by pure rage. "Get back here, you coward! Let me out, or I swear I'll kill you with my own hands! Father! BATMAN!"

Batman stopped at the final cell on the hallway, newer by comparison. The woman inside stood up from her cot, but didn't come to the glass like Barry or Damian. Ice-blue eyes stared intently at her visitor. "Hello, Bruce."

"It's Batman to you, Your Majesty." Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, former Queen of Themiscyra, noted the snarl in Batman's voice.

"Sixth visit since I got here a year ago. Every time, I answered your pointless questions. What more do you want from me, **Batman**?" She paused, adopting a taunting smile "Unless you're just here to see me? After that night in the Hall of Justice…"

"A stupid mistake. An uncalculated risk." Batman silently wished he had the cowl now, not for the look, but to hide some of his facial expression.

"Selina had abandoned you, Kal was too hung up on Lois to notice me."

"It was just a moment of stupid weakness, Diana. You're reading into it too much."

"We still had feelings for each other." Diana's icy glare fixed on his eyes, but she felt her malice start to buckle. These visits had stirred something in her.

"There were no 'feelings.'" His gaze hardened. He knew how to control himself, how not to show weakness. So why was it so hard to do now?

"Then what do you call that kiss? The one all those years ago, before Tezumak and Gamemnae struck us down? A moment shared by warriors on the battlefield?"

"…yes." He could hear the pain in her voice, the unsaid want, but he couldn't break. Not with his former comrades all listening from their cells. Not even if he knew he was lying to himself.

"You're lying, **Bruce**. It was a desperate attempt to reconcile years of emotion in a fleeting heartbeat, and you know it. The same happened in the Hall of Justice."

Batman gritted his teeth. "Why didn't you hand me over to Superman right after, even though I was effectively your prisoner?"

"Is that what you came all the way here for? Because I think you already know the answer, World's Greatest Detective. It's the same reason why you really keep visiting. The same reason why you went after Selina after we resolved to remain friends all those years ago."

Batman slammed an armored fist into the glass, frustration burning behind his eyes. "What do you want me to say, Diana?! That it was more than just a moment?" Composing himself, Bruce turned to leave. "We're done here."

"I know you won't say it, not out loud," she said, pausing thoughtfully. "That night…I'd hoped you would join me. I was prepared to turn on Superman if you were prepared to leave your rebels. We could have overthrown him together. I could have been at your side as you remade the world. Yet here we are."

"Yet he we are," he repeated to himself softly. Batman spared himself one last glance at her as he walked away. He could barely hear the scornful laughter of his son as he passed by him. His head felt heavy, as if the truth were weighing it down. He needed time alone, to brood like in the old days. But he would return here, the seventh time. They were as different as a bat is to an eagle, but he would return, to see her.


	2. Contemplation

The automatic doors slammed shut. No more footsteps, and the prisoners went back to whatever they were doing, all except for Diana. That…**man** found a way to get under her skin, more than anyone she knew could. And now he was gone, leaving her with nothing but her own thoughts. That is, of course, if she could hear her own thoughts over Damian's continued laughter.

"You, and my father? You actually slept together?" Damian was doubled over, trying to stop laughing at what he had just heard. The other inmates tried their hardest to block him out, but it was a vain effort.

"Silence boy, or I'll…"

"You'll what," Damian taunted, "kill the son of the man you pine for? Betray his trust the same way you were willing to betray Superman's?"

Diana exhaled audibly. "Why are you doing this, Damian? You can't suffer in silence like everyone else in here, so you want to bring me down too?"

He scoffed, and went on. "I'm actually not all surprised, the more I think about it. Yet another sucker joins the Wayne Conquest Club. The number's so big, I bet they're running out of T-shirts to give to newbies like you."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, you really didn't know? My father's playboy act wasn't all just an act. He racked up a list of women that would've made Ollie jealous if he was still alive." Damian wished he could see the look on her face. The thought of it made him grin. "My mom, Catwoman, Huntress, that reporter Vicki Vale, Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, Jezebel Jet, probably Harley Quinn after Joker bit it…there are a few more, I just don't remember them. I bet he doesn't either."

Diana sat back on her bed, processing this. Could that be true? Or was Damian just saying it to get to her, break her down the same way he was broken, make her hate Bruce as much as he did? "Why are you telling me this," she managed to ask, a croak in her voice as she spoke.

"Do you really think my father cares about you? About anyone? When we were at Stryker's Island, his voice and eyes didn't even waver as he told Selina 'there is no us anymore.' He didn't hesitate to tell me that I was no longer his son, as if blood meant nothing to him. My point, Diana, is that you're nothing to Bruce Wayne. You're another toy, something for him to play with until he finds another pair of legs to chase after. Then, just that quickly, you'll be all alone again. No friends to comfort you, no allies to distract you…no lover to be with you."

"ENOUGH!" A combination of magical wards and power dampeners was all that prevented the Amazon's fist from shattering the transparent sheet of Kryptonian crystal that formed her cell door. The boy managed to cut deep, and she couldn't hold back any longer. "That's not true! I know your father, I've known him longer than even you have. He –"

"He what? He loves you? Don't delude yourself, Your Majesty. The only things Batman loves are his suit and his mission. I don't care how much the public thinks he's changed, how much of a white knight they see. That man does not change." Damian allowed himself another chuckle. "In fact, I bet he's forgotten about you already. He's probably sharing his bed with Harley as we speak. Or maybe Cassandra. Maybe even both."

Diana couldn't even hear him anymore. Even if she could, she had no more words for the youth at all. No counterpoints, no backlash. She knew he was lying, about the conquests, about his apathy, but…what if he wasn't lying? What if the warrior she knew, the man who put even Olympus' finest champions to shame, was just the man his son was painting him as? He would know; after all, only a son could know his father's heart. What if this was his last visit? Worse yet, what if it wasn't? What if he managed to get her released to him, only to be abandoned for the next blonde that caught his eye? Every girl would want a piece of the world's greatest hero, after all.

Of greater concern to her was her own feelings. Of the men she knew since arriving in Man's World, she couldn't say that she truly loved any of them. Steve Trevor had been little more than infatuation, the first man she'd ever met. When he wanted to get serious, she realized that and left. Nemesis was no different; in fact, he did her a favor when he turned her down, she now realized. With Superman, she was attracted to the idea of him and what he could become. Strong, brave, invulnerable, like a modern-day Achilles. She thought that by guiding his path, she could turn him into a true warrior, someone who used his great power instead of fearing it, a hero without being a pushover, a god among men. However, the man he became was not what she had wanted. She tried her best to support him, but after he killed Shazam for no good reason, something had broken in her. She'd wanted him to be a king, not a tyrant; a warrior, not a killer; strong, brave, and fear-inspiring without having to be a murderer…and that's when she realized who she truly wanted and lured him to the Hall of Justice.

Using one of J'onn's Martian machines, she had once saw all of their possible futures together: happily married and mingling in each other's worlds in for decades in one, protecting Gotham together as Batman and Batwoman in another, his death by Joker's hand in another, her influence helping him to step into the light as he was doing right now in yet another. They spoke afterwards and agreed to not act on feelings, to just stay friends. She forgot all of that for one night, as she let Bruce see her passion. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to leave Superman and ask Batman to join her. Instead, she'd returned to Superman's side and rallied her Amazons to help him level Metropolis and Gotham, pushing that night into a little box in the back of her mind. She had failed, thwarted by another Wonder Woman from a world where Lois Lane still lived, a Wonder Woman who didn't guide Kal's footsteps, one who probably kept her part of the agreement she and Bruce had regarding their future and their hearts.

By all accounts, she should hate Batman for his part in locking her up, yet she didn't. In fact, her heart had leapt when she heard Damian shout his name from his cell. His presence made her resolve and veneer of indifference crumble. Could she actually be love with him? "Hera, give me strength," she said halfheartedly, laying back on her cot. Damian has finally taunted himself hoarse, if the silence in the cell block was any indication. What if he did visit again? What would she say, what would she do? Diana decided to cross that bridge if she reached it and closed her eyes to sleep.


	3. Concealed Thoughts

**A/N: Hi all! Sorry this took a little longer than usual; I was stuck in terms of what I wanted to do next (writer's block sucks, as I'm sure you're well aware). This chapter is a little slower-paced, and will be introducing somebody who I know at least a few of you will be happy to see ;) Without futrher ado, here is Chapter Three of The Bat and The Eagle!**

Batman couldn't even remember the drive back to Gotham from Metropolis. He considered it possibly a miracle that he was able to safely drive a high-speed Batmobile all that distance with the thoughts he had had running through his mind. Miles later, on the outskirts of Gotham City, they hadn't gone away.

The mansion was lonely and quiet without Alfred around anymore, leaving Bruce Wayne alone with his thoughts in his huge family estate. Diana had shaken him, more than anyone had in years. Not just the things she said, but the way she looked at him, those eyes…trying to show anger and hate but revealing so much pain, especially when he lied to her. The man who'd faced down serial killers, alien warlords, even super-powered world dictators, and this one woman, who was about as much a threat to him in that prison as Crazy Quilt was to just about anyone, managed to break his calm. Bruce stepped back out into the rebuilt courtyard for some air. Could he even go back again?

"Father!" The voice came from the skies above him as a woman descended. Her emerald eyes glittered in comparison to her orange skin and hair. She dashed over and embraced Batman fondly.

He smiled. "Welcome home." Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran, better known as Starfire, wore a simple and only mildly revealing tank top and skirt. "I was half-expecting you to be wearing a crown and leading an army."

Starfire forced a smile for him. "My mission was…unsuccessful. I could not reclaim the throne of Tamaran, not while knowing what Superman was doing to my other homeworld, and therefore I could not rally my people to help. I am sorry, Father."

Bruce touched her cheek to let her know everything was going to be fine. Ever since Dick had died, Kori had confided in Bruce. Sharing her pain in losing him led Bruce to accept her at last, even referring to her as his daughter-in-law, though she and Dick never truly married. "You've been gone a long time, Kori. A lot has changed since I sent you away. We defeated Superman five years ago, and we're rebuilding now."

Starfire flew up and took a better look at Gotham off in the distance. Where once the One Earth banners flew and eerie silence gripped the city, now it looked and even felt happier from that distance. "I came directly here when I returned, hoping you had found a way to reclaim the cave without Superman's knowledge. I did not know the war had ended."

"Come on inside, I could use the company right now." Bruce led her into the mansion. Where Superman's goons had almost gone out of their way to wreck the place after Bruce was outed as the Dark Knight, he had managed to fix and refurbish most of it. Bruce sighed as he looked over at his daughter-in-law. He wasn't exactly a spiritual man, but her timely arrival was as close to divine intervention as he'd ever seen. With Tim and Dick dead, Damian in prison, and Jason and Cassandra in Nanda Parbat, his children had not been around. Starfire's arrival might be just the thing he needed to keep his mind off of her…

"What is troubling you?" Starfire asked. Of course she would ask that. He wondered if he was that transparent today, that even an alien with only some understanding of humans could tell he was troubled.

"I'm fine, Kori, it's just been a long day," he lied.

' Starfire floated over to him and leveled with his eyes. Glittering emeralds met cool baby blues. "Please, I know something is wrong. Maybe you should talk about it."

Bruce motioned to a chair as he sat down. "It concerns Wonder Woman."

Starfire's eyes flared. "Has she hurt you? I will find her myself, and I will –"

"No, it's more complicated than that." He took a deep breath. Too late to back out now. "The Princess – or should I say Queen now – and I have known each other for years and always had an admiration for one another. Neither of us said anything for a while; I was focused on my mission, and she was 'with' her Air Force pilot. On one mission, we found ourselves in an alternate timeline, with the odds stacked against us. Before a pair of Atlanteans struck us down, those feeling came to a head and we kissed. After we returned home alive and well, it stayed buried, and we agreed to stay friends.

"Over time, Catwoman and I drew together and I all but forgot about our moment in the Obsidian Age. I had assumed she did too. But…five years ago, before the final battle, we met at the Hall of Justice and those feelings reasserted themselves for one night. When I woke up alone but not in Superman's clutches, I moved on, and we won. I visited her in prison every so often, but earlier today when I went…something's been stirred in her, and I fear it's stirring within me as well."

"You love her." Starfire reached forward and touched her father-in-law's hand. "She was your friend, then your enemy, but you loved her, deep down, no matter what."

"Yes." Bruce's voice was even more hoarse than usual. "I know it's wrong, and illogical. Yet, I don't think I care. And for the first time in a long time, I don't know what to do. She's a prisoner, a traitor in the eyes of the people, the same people who have crowned me their savior. If they were to see me with her…"

"When I first brought Dick to Tamaran," Star interrupted, "I knew the people I was to rule would not approve. He, for all of his good qualities, was not royalty after all. I did not care, though. And neither should you." She took his hand into hers. "If that is how you really feel about her, than let her know. She is no longer your enemy, Father, you do not need to keep how you feel to yourself." She smiled warmly at Bruce. "The world is safe; now you make yourself happy."

Bruce smiled, something Kori was not particularly used to. "Thank you," he said, surprising his daughter-in-law even further. "Do you have somewhere to stay?"

"No," Starfire said regretfully. With Titans Tower destroyed and Dick dead, I am without a home."

"Stay here, I have more than enough guest rooms and nobody to use them. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to attend to something."

**A/N: Well, that was a bit different. Hope you like what I did with Starfire, and don't worry, this is probably not the last time we'll see her. Thank you so much to all you who've favorited and followed my story for your patience, Chapter 4 will be coming soon. In the meantime, check out my other stuff to tide you over :)**


	4. Memories Revisited

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! Between job-hunting and anime binging, I've been tied up. I've decided to set the events of Injustice in a world where the events of Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, and Blackest Night all happened, even though Lex Luthor was never a villain in this world. We're nearing the end of our little journey together, and without further ado, here's Chapter 4!**

Barry Allen had been forced to take in not only Bruce's conversation with Diana, but also Damian Wayne's mad rant at her. Try as he might, he couldn't just tune the boy out, not with his cell so close by. Unfortunately, having to sit through both conversations gave him no shortage of curiosity. Batman and Wonder Woman having a secret fling after all these years of knowing each other? Wonder Woman possibly loving a man who was literally her polar opposite? His own wife Iris couldn't have written a better story if she had a week and the scoop of a lifetime. "Hey, Diana?" he called out.

She opened one eye. "Yes, Barry?" At least this was a voice she didn't mind hearing.

"What exactly happened with you and Bruce? Not whatever drabble Damian was spewing, I mean what really went on between you two?"

"It's a long story."

"I got no plans later," he smirked.

Diana sat up and looked over at Barry's cell. "I guess it started when we were all members of the Justice League. There was always something about Batman that stood out to me. He was a warrior and a cunning man among demigods, not unlike Odysseus in the Trojan War. I never told him how much I admired him; I knew he'd say that dating within the team always leads to problems. Or perhaps he'd cite our differences, me being a princess from an immortal race of warriors, and he being a 'rich kid with issues'. Instead, I continued to see Steve Trevor, but I turned from him too when he wanted more than I was willing to give.

"Then came our adventure in the Obsidian Age, when Wally was still the Flash." Barry frowned at the thought of his beloved but now-deceased nephew Wally West. "Gamemnae and Tezumak, two rogue Atlanteans, had Batman and I pinned down. Before dying, Bruce and I…we shared a kiss. Even some time after we were restored to life, I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. What did it mean? Was it a moment between pure warriors, or years of repressed feelings coming out when there was nothing left to lose? I didn't know whether or not to approach Bruce with how I felt; I just knew he wouldn't do it himself. I decided to see what would happen if I did. I don't know if you ever got to see it when you returned, but J'onn had a psychic machine that allowed you to view certain possible future scenarios involving yourself. I used it to see what kind of futures Bruce and I would have if I opened my life to him.

"In one future, I joined him on his crusade in Gotham City as Batwoman, his lover and partner. We were happy, but the thought of being dragged into his darkness…I don't know how much that would truly change me. In another, we were happily married. I mingled with him in the world of business with billionaires and entrepreneurs, and he shared meals not only with me but also the gods of Mont Olympos itself. We were happy, though one thing weighed on me, both in reality and in that future: he grew old and eventually died, while I remained young. In another future, I was forced to witness Batman's brutal murder at the hand of the maniac The Joker. I snapped in that future, slaughtering the clown. Even thinking about it now makes my heart race, just the thought of it happening to him in that manner." Seeing the concerned look on Barry's face, Wonder Woman paused to calm herself, as she was beginning to grip her bed tightly out of outrage. Smoothing her bedsheet out and taking a deep breath, she continued. "Finally, I saw a bright future, the brightest of them all. Bruce had stepped out of the darkness like he has now, but for me this time. He wore white and blue, without the cowl that scares Gotham's scum so badly. He smiled more, his demeanor was actually much more like Superman's before Lois died. And all for me, his devoted wife. Though the gods of Olympos would not grant us children of our own, we looked upon a brighter Gotham, reformed by us, and saw them as our children. Bruce always did love adopting, after all." A smile danced across the former queen's face as she reflected on it. By far, that was her favorite of all the scenarios presented to her that day. Even after all these years, it still put the slightest of flutters in her heart.

"I exited the machine to discover Bruce standing there, having had the same idea that I had. He didn't want to know what I saw in there, even if most of the futures likely would have made him happy. We resolved that day to just stay close friends and not act upon the feelings that we shared. As time went by, we moved on. He started something of a relationship with Catwoman, where they were together one moment and apart another. There were other women as well, I was told, but never anything serious outside of Damian's mother, I'm sure. I tried to romance a hero named Nemesis – a different one than you remember – yet he kindly turned me down when he caught onto my attempts to court him. We even fought and argued over things, such as my killing Maxwell Lord and the crisis that followed, which I'm sure Hal told you about. When it seemed that he died fighting Darkseid, I tried my best to suppress the depths of my pain and shock; as far as the League was concerned, I was simply mourning an ally and friend, like the rest of the inner circle. However, when the black ring took me over later on, the thing that snapped me out of its control was thinking that I saw Bruce alive again, even sharing a deep kiss with 'him'. Of course, I never mentioned this to anyone outside of the goddess Aphrodite, who had a hand in breaking me free of the black ring.

"Instead, after Lois' death, I began to support Superman and to guide his path. I had convinced myself by then that Bruce would never agree to be with me, and that it wasn't worth trying. I wanted to make Kal more like him, a strong warrior, who did not shy away from bringing justice to those who needed a firmer hand. If I couldn't have Bruce, I now realize, creating my own was the next-best thing. Kal's power was undeniable, as well as his potential…I got drunk on it, and pushed him to become a guiding figure, somewhat of a ruler. The results were not what I expected. He became a tyrant, a killer. He was the farthest thing from Batman, even more so than before. Bruce's resistance to all of this was just as painful, so I hardened my heart, and decided to commit to the One Earth government, perhaps able to redirect Kal to a better path over the course of years. But when he killed Luthor, his best friend, and Shazam, still just a boy by this world's standards…I then knew I had made a mistake.

"I had to get out, but I didn't want to rebel against Superman alone. The Insurgents would never believe that I, his top lieutenant, wanted to fight him, not after everything I did. But I reasoned that Batman himself would be willing to listen. I had Raven leave a telepathic message in his subconscious by way of you. She was watching your battle with Yellow Lantern and knew you were going to escape to the Insurgency, so when you met Batman the message would pass to his mind. It led him to the Hall of Justice alone, as I knew he'd be; he'd suspect a trap and wouldn't want to risk anyone else, including the intruders from the other dimension. I came unarmed, just wanting to talk. I planned on asking him to run away with me, or at least join me in opposing Superman. But we argued instead, over my allegiance to Kal, over his resistance to One Earth. It got more heated and senseless…and we just kissed, just like so long ago but without death facing us this time. The kiss became deeper, and eventually we did more. It was amazing, his anger and my passion…I never wanted that night to end." From his cell, Barry could swear she was blushing. "But all things must, in time. As he laid there resting, I just couldn't bring myself to ask him, no matter how badly I wanted – no, needed – him by my side. So I left him there and returned to Themiscyra, steeling myself once again and mobilizing my Amazons. The rest is history."

The Flash took a microsecond to process everything at superspeed. "So I wasn't the only one with doubts. But despite your feelings, you went through with Superman's plans anyways. What, did you hope for a role reversal? That Batman would be the one in the cell with you visiting him after you somehow managed to convince Superman to spare his life? Come on, Diana, you know that wouldn't happen, not with Clark the way he is now."

"I suppose you're right. And look where my decision has placed me compared to him." Her voice was pained, and in all the years Barry had known her, he'd never seen her this conflicted before. "What if there is no future for us at all? What if my actions have put too large a rift between us? What then?"

"I don't think you believe that. In all honesty, I don't think Bruce does either. He'll be back, Diana, just you watch. All we have to do is wait."

**A/N: Longest chapter yet! But, the story needed to be told, and from Diana's POV no less. Chapter 5 will be up when my muse decides to cooperate better with me. In the meantime, read my other stuff, and here are some review responses!**

**Jovan2013: Man, thanks for all of your support! As for your idea, I'm actually considering a spinoff story that covers the deaths of the Titans, since all the game tells you is that the Regime killed those who couldn't be bullied into cooperation and the comic hasn't brought it up yet.**

**DarkJosey66: Thanks for the reviews and support! A lot of the Bruce/Diana romance is not made up; it's taken from several story arcs from across the Justice League comics (as my description mentions) and a one-shot during Blackest Night. The whole Bruce/Diana hookup in the Hall of Justice, though, is made-up for the sake of storytelling. As for the events of Chapter 2? Diana's emotions may have been thrown for a loop by Damian, but trust me, she knows his "Wayne Conquest Club" is a load of horsecrap.**

**Dzejni: Glad you're enjoying the story, and thanks for the review! I'm glad I'm not the only person who likes BatWonder as a couple. And don't worry, you won't be waiting too long for the next chapter :)**


	5. Decisive Action

**A/N: Hi all! So our journey is nearly at its end; only one more chapter to go! It's been a fun ride, hasn't it? That being said, here is the penultimate chapter of the Bat and the Eagle!**

Batman shivered as he marched through the ice and snow towards his destination. Towering crystals glimmering in the sun announced that he had arrived to it. The last time he was in this part of the world, visiting this particular place, he and its owner were on the best of terms. Now ownerless, this so-called "Fortress of Solitude" never fit its name better.

Despite being vacant for several years now, Superman's former abode looked no worse for the wear. Natural, almost futuristic crystal floors looked no dustier, and everything that the other world's Superman's battles against Doomsday and himself hadn't destroyed was still intact. Kryptonian space pod? Check. Portal to the Phantom Zone? Check (Batman allowed himself a chuckle as General Zod floated by, pounding on his "cell" the whole time). One of Superman's robots floated by, following a routine programmed into it by the other world's Cyborg before he left for home. Batman used the opportunity to follow it into the level below: the terrarium. One of the robots' altered subroutines was to gather the primary food sources of and care for the wellbeing of the many, many endangered species of animals Superman had collected from across this and many other galaxies. Despite the robots' IFF showing him as a friendly, Batman smartly stayed out of their way as they worked.

Batman kept reminding himself that was a really bad idea. Five years ago…heck, even three days ago, he would have scoffed at what he was currently planning on doing here in the Fortress. Yet, what Starfire told him had struck a chord somewhere deep in his being. Bruce did not have forever to live; though the super-pill Luthor had given him slowed his aging down somewhat, his day were as numbered as any mortal's. Diana's sentence was long; given her demigod status, it could afford to be. Time was not Batman's ally, even if it was not an immediate enemy. He would not spend the rest of his life visiting Diana in a S.T.A.R. Labs prison, a wall of crystal between them at all times. But, what if he was wrong? What if freedom gave her a chance to free Superman and war against Man's World and everything Bruce had rebuilt? It was a risk, but as far as Bruce was concerned, it was an unlikely one. Being with her was worth that risk.

It wasn't long before he found Superman's laboratory. He'd been there a few times, back in the "World's Finest" days, when he and his best friend had stopped so many galactic threats on their own. He missed those days, when he and Superman were inseparable. He had rarely said it, but back then there was no one else in the universe (or multiverse, for all that matters) that Batman trusted more. His and Lois' son would have been his godson, and he'd have trained the boy to become a greater hero than both himself and Clark. Batman let himself blissfully dwell on what could have been for just another moment before shaking his head clear and returning to his objective. He looked upon a branching hallway off the side of the lab and grinned. At last, he had found what he was looking for.

The doors to S.T.A.R. Labs' containment facility opened, and Batman strode in, as he had several days before. He ignored Shiera, shot Raven a mean look, and as Damian got up to begin another round of "Let's Guilt-Trip Dad Into Freeing Me", cut him off with a firmly-raised hand. "Silence, boy. I'm not here for you." He looked over at Barry's cell and gave him a wink, before stopping at Diana's.

"You're early for a visit, Bruce," she said evenly. "That is what this is, right?" She bit back the smile that she had felt creeping across her face. By Hera, Barry had been right!

"I'm afraid not. I'm here to inform you that, effective immediately, you're being transferred to the Phantom Zone to finish out your sentence there." That raised everyone's heads (and elicited a laugh from Damian). Batman punched in a combination on the keypad next to her cell and the crystal wall retracted.

"The Phantom Zone?! What kind of cruel joke is this? I'd rather stay here under these dampener than float on alongside the scum in there!"

"I'm sorry," was the reply as he placed dampening handcuffs on Wonder Woman and led her towards an APC waiting outside.

They rode off in silence, Diana staring contemptuously at the man she had sworn loved her. Yet, the longer she stared at him, the harder it became to focus on his face. Her vision began to cloud, and she swayed back and forth on the APC's bench. He drugged her sometime between cuffing her and putting her in the vehicle! Diana barely had time to speak the words before she swayed off completely and fell to the floor unconscious. Batman grinned and banged on the gate separating the transport section from the driver's seat. All was going according to plan.

**A/N: A cliffhanger! With one chapter to go, what will happen to Diana? What was Batman looking for in Superman's Fortress? How stupid will the MacGuffin be? Find out in the next and final chapter of the Bat and the Eagle!**

**\- R.B.**


	6. Unwritten Future

**A/N: Hi all! So at last we've come to this, the final chapter of our journey. I want to thank each and every one of my followers/favoriters (it's a word now)/reviewers for all their support of me over the past months as this story has taken shape. It's been one heck of a ride, and I hope you enjoy the ever-so-cute-ish (that's a word now too!) conclusion of the Bat and the Eagle!**

Diana awoke in a panicked rage, blue eyes wild and fists raised for a fight. If she was in the Phantom Zone, even the Fortress of Solitude itself…! She looked around, expecting endless void or cold alien crystals, only to see…expensive wallpaper and wooden doors? She sat not on a stone slab or in a 2-dimensional crystal, but in a king-sized bed with fancy sheets. Her power-dampening shackles had been removed and were nowhere in sight. At the foot of the bed sat new clothing: a red t-shirt, black jeans, and even a pair of leather boots. Diana hurriedly got out of her prison jumpsuit and into the clothes provided her before slowly leaving the room. The place had the look of recent remodeling to it, but after a second, she knew where she was: Wayne Manor. Diana couldn't understand; why here? Clearly, she reasoned, this was the product of the hologram room in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Bruce had put her here so the first thing she saw wasn't the cold, inhospitable void of the Phantom Zone! She looked over the banister outside of the bedroom and to her surprise saw a familiar face. He wore no armor, no cape, only a simple black button-up shirt and cream-colored slacks. In his hand was a porcelain cup, filled with what she presumed was holographic tea. She leapt over the banister (ignoring the stairs to her left completely) and floated down to Bruce Wayne. Pointing down to her clothes, she asked, "What is the meaning of all this?"

"They're clothes, or have you forgotten what those are after spending so long in a cell?"

She glared at him. "Not what I meant, and you know it. Why am I not in a cell, or in the Phantom Zone like you said I was going to? Why am I in regular garments,without any bindings whatsoever?!"

Bruce grinned, something Diana was not accustomed to seeing often. "I thought you'd be more appreciative of your freedom than this."

"M-my freedom? What kind of ruse is this, Bruce? First you tell me I'm going to the Phantom Zone, then you drug me in the transport, now you expect me to believe you did all of that to **free** me?!"

He took another sip from his cup and cringed. Definitely not as good as Alfred used to make. "I don't expect you to do anything, least of all believe my words. Look around you, Diana, your setting should provide all the proof you need."

Diana looked around the "manor" once again, and back down at her own attire. She stormed over to a window and punched it. Glass shattered, covering her fist, and a cool autumn breeze wafted in, carrying the scent of the cherry blossom tree outside the window. The room and the glass on her had not receded as any hologram should have when disrupted violently. "Great Hera, is this truly…"

"…my house? Yes, yes it is. And to think, I just had that window replaced two weeks ago." Bruce put down the cup and walked up behind Diana. "Believe me now?"

Diana trembled at the implications. Bruce had lied to her, to everyone in the prison, maybe even the world. He took her from her cell under the guise of relocating her, and used the time where she would be unseen to free her instead. Barry had been more right than he ever could have hoped. But something bothered her. "How? How did you do all this, Bruce?"

"Not many people knew the real reason why I removed you from S.T.A.R. Labs' prison. The world at large is convinced you'll be spending the next decade or so in the Phantom Zone alongside the villains Superman brainwashed. Only higher-ups in several key governments know the truth, and they've allowed this so long as I keep an eye on you…and have a contingency plan or six ready just in case." He held up a velvet-covered box. "I found these in Superman's Fortress. They're dampener rings. If you were to get out of line, no matter how far from each other we are, I twist my ring, and it shorts your powers out for several hours. Yours cannot be removed unless I remove mine first, and in a very specific way. He had initially made them for himself and Lois, in case he ever got mind-controlled or power-hungry." Batman frowned at the irony.

"The drugging was easy. Before your cell opened, I had Dr. Emil Hamilton pump a gas into your enclosure. A gas that's untraceable and undetectable to anyone without Kryptonian-level senses. That gas was one half of a drug I heavily modified from an encounter with Hush years ago. It doesn't take effect until exposed to the other half, which you were inhaled off my armor when we were locked in the transport, made airtight for that specific reason."

Diana always admired his cleverness, and she even found that admiration to be eroding her initial anger at him for tricking her, and at the thought of basically being on his leash. "But surely the people expect Wonder Woman to be placed in prison. I can't exactly walk the streets when I'm in prison, can I?"

Bruce dared to take another sip of his horrible brew of tea. "I found something else interesting in the Fortress of Solitude. Do you remember the name Hannibal Bates?"

"Everyman? Luthor's pet shapeshifter?"

"That's right. I found him on ice and 'reprogrammed' Superman's heat vision. Nearby were hair and skin samples of you, Barry, Sinestro, and Black Adam. If one of you stepped out of line and needed to be eliminated, he could simply have Bates take your place for the sake of the public or your ruling domain. Bates was 'reprogrammed' to be able to mimic the four of you perfectly, and he does so on a genetic level so nobody – even Sinestro's own ring – would ever know the difference. So, I had him swallow your hair to take your form and told him to become you. He is now serving your sentence in the Phantom Zone, unaware of who he really is until he is released and deprogrammed with a specific code phrase. As for how you'll be able to go out in public until then? It turns out that Black Canary had left one of her blonde wigs at my old base once upon a time, along with the adhesive for it."

"Are you sure that will be enough to fool people?"

"If most people couldn't see through Clark's 'no glasses and a spitcurl' persona change, they won't be able to tell you're Wonder Woman in a wig," he said, and she laughed at it. He took her hand in his and led her out one of the manor's side doors into a lush garden. "This is a chance for both of us to have something of a normal life, Diana."

She turned to face him fully and took his other hand. She looked into his eyes, and once again saw everything about him that she had ever loved: the warrior, the hero, the noble knight…the man. She smiled, and he actually smiled back. She didn't need words to express herself to him, and neither did he. She pulled Bruce, **her **Bruce closer and for the first time in nearly a decade, her lips met his. The moment seemed to last an eternity for both the princess and her knight, and the parting was done ever so reluctantly. She grinned at the him, this man who finally allowed her into his heart after so long, and looked down at the box containing the dampening rings. "Rings, huh? How long before I can start calling myself Diana Wayne?"

He kissed her lightly and gave her a seductive smile that was all too Bruce Wayne-like. "All in due time." He had at last done it, and even he couldn't believe any of this. She was the first woman since Selina he'd let into his life, and she was going to stay with him despite everything that had transpired and even the conditions for being free. He could truly say, even if it wasn't out loud, that he loved Diana. Even with the future being unwritten and very much uncertain, the Bat had his Eagle, and as long as he did, he could carve his own path through it.

**A/N: And there you have it! I hope I didn't jump the shark but so much; conclusions are hard for me to do. Thank you all so much for reading, and stand by for my next Injustice fanfic, Injustice: Titanomachy! If you have suggestion for Teen Titans you want bumped off and/or suggestions for who does it and how, shoot me a PM!**

**\- R.B.**


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